Microsoft, Oracle release latest database softwares

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Nov 18, 1998 by David E. Kalish Associated Press

LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft and Oracle, two of the fiercest rivals in technology, are shaking up a staid corner of the software industry in their escalating battle for customers.

Microsoft, ranked No. 3 in the corporate database software market, stepped up its attack Monday by unveiling the latest version of its product for helping companies manage huge files of information.

But at the same time it faced a crafty new challenge from Oracle, the top maker of database software and the main rival it's trying to unseat. Oracle Monday also introduced a new version of its database program, code-named "raw iron," that doesn't require an operating system from Microsoft. The product is Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison's latest attempt to try to do away with the need for Microsoft's main product. Three years ago, he launched a failed attempt to promote so-called network computers -- $500 devices lacking hard drives that could be used in place of personal computers. The pitch failed in part because of the recent sharp plunge in prices of PCs. Oracle's new database program requires only a tiny part of an operating system, known as a kernel, and would reside on the central "server" computers that control large business networks. Computers using Oracle's software would hold a variety of data, including e-mail, text files and accounting information. It would reduce the need for many smaller servers loaded with Microsoft's operating system. Not to be outdone, Microsoft, notorious for its aggressive tactics, redesigned its new corporate database software so that it is closely linked to its popular Office suite of computer programs, which includes word processing and spreadsheet programs. In addition, Microsoft plans to build part of the SQL Server 7 database technology into an upcoming version of the Office software, Microsoft President Steve Ballmer said in an interview. The purpose of the closer integration was to benefit customers, he said. For example, a user of the Excel spreadsheet program could more easily view and manage files stored on SQL database. "I think what we do is very well-motivated by creating the best value to customers," he said. But the strategy could raise concern with Microsoft's critics, since close integration among Microsoft's products is a key focus of its ongoing battle with government antitrust authorities. The federal Justice Department and 20 states have accused Microsoft of exploiting its dominance in computer operating systems to try to control other software markets, such as Internet browser software. Still, Microsoft does not dominate the market for business applications as it does in operating systems. Its Windows program controls the basic functions of 90 percent of all personal computers; other companies, such as IBM's Lotus software, still figure prominently in so-called front-office business software. In both instances, however, Microsoft is trying to use its edge in one software market to gain in another, said Jonathan Jacobson, an antitrust attorney in the New York law office of Akin Gump. "The integration and tying issues are quite similar," Jacobson said. Ballmer disagreed there was reason for concern. "I don't think anything we've done should have raised any concern at anytime," he said.